Visa outsourcing and technology services provider VFS Global reported continued progress in its sustainability initiatives and digital transformation efforts in 2025, highlighting increased investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR), greater adoption of responsible artificial intelligence (AI), and expanded environmental programs in its latest Sustainability Report.

The company’s seventh Sustainability Report showed that 65 percent of its new hires in 2025 were women, while CSR spending increased by 94 percent from the previous year. VFS Global also reported a 41 percent increase in electronic waste recycling and said it had planted 650,000 trees through reforestation initiatives by the end of 2025.

VFS Global said the report, prepared in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative standards and aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, also reflects the company’s operational growth and expansion of its global technology services.

Founder and chief executive officer Zubin Karkaria said sustainability initiatives continued to support the company’s growth strategy.

“2025 marks a landmark year where our sustainability commitments actively advanced our global growth and drove significant value creation. We have made meaningful progress by strengthening employee engagement, nearly doubling our CSR investments, and further reducing greenhouse gas emissions across our operations,” Karkaria said.

He added that the company reinforced its commitment to environmental stewardship and women’s empowerment by increasing e-waste recycling and ensuring that women accounted for the majority of new hires.

According to the report, VFS Global introduced enterprise-wide governance for the responsible use of AI in 2025, implementing privacy-conscious and human-supervised AI operations. The company said these efforts earned it the Dubai AI Seal, recognizing it as a Trusted AI Enterprise.

By the end of the year, the company had deployed six AI-enabled solutions, with at least one application already being used by more than 20 client governments worldwide. DT

VFS Global also completed the acquisition of a majority stake in CiX Citizen Experience, a Brazilian provider of digital and physical citizen services.

Shireen Mistree, VFS Global’s head of sustainability, said the company continued integrating sustainability into its business operations through a second Double Materiality Assessment, which helps identify and manage environmental, social, and business risks while supporting long-term resilience.

Among its 2025 performance indicators, VFS Global reported a 97.6 percent customer satisfaction rate, engagement of 98 percent local suppliers, and 56,980 training person-days for employees representing 165 nationalities.

The company also said it reduced total greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent from its 2024 baseline and shifted 80 percent of its electricity consumption to green energy through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates.

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